The massive eruption of the Tonga submarine volcano in the Pacific earlier this year generated such a powerful explosion that it sent massive pressure waves into the atmosphere and around the world.
These waves were the fastest ever observed in our atmosphere, reaching speeds of 720 miles (1,158 kilometers) per hour, according to a new study.
“This was a really huge explosion and really unique in terms of what science has observed so far,” said study lead author Corwin Wright, a researcher at the Royal Society University based at the Center for Space, Atmospheric Sciences. and Oceanic University of Bath in the UK said in a statement.
Atmospheric waves fired by the volcano traveled at unprecedented speeds, “very close to the theoretical limit,” he said.
Wright and colleagues published their findings Thursday (June 30) in the journal Nature.
The volcano, known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, or simply Hunga, is located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa and is within a line of volcanoes. called Tonga-Kermadec volcanic arc.
On January 15, Hunga erupted and sent a plume of gas and particles into the mesosphere, the third layer of the atmosphere on the Earth’s surface.
The plume reached 36 miles (58 km) in height at its highest point, making it the largest volcanic plume on the satellite record.
Related: Dramatic photos show the terrible consequences of the massive eruption of Tonga and the tsunami
Several terrestrial and space monitoring systems recorded the eruption as it developed, and after the event, scientists around the world immediately began examining this wealth of data.
A research team found that the atmospheric waves produced by Hunga rivaled those produced by the 1883 Krakatau eruption in Indonesia, one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions in recorded history.
The waves produced by the two volcanoes were similar, as they reached similar amplitudes and slid the planet the same number of times: four times in one direction and three times in the other.
Another research team found that the Hungarian eruption sent ripples across the ocean, producing tiny, fast meteorotsunamis, a series of waves driven by air pressure alterations. , which appeared in the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
And far above the Earth’s surface, beyond the so-called Karman line that marks the edge of space about 100 km above our planet, the shock waves caused by the eruption caused strong winds with speeds of up to 720 km / h. ), Space.com reported.
Now, using similar satellite data and ground-level observations, Wright and his co-authors have confirmed that the Hunger eruption was one of the most explosive volcanic events in modern history. Their results suggest that atmospheric waves produced by the volcano slid the Earth at least six times and reached speeds of up to 1,050 feet (320 meters) per second.
“The eruption was an amazing natural experiment,” Wright said. “The data we’ve been able to gather about this will improve our understanding of our atmosphere and help us improve our weather and climate models.”
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This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.